A Second Chance

This movie is a low budget flick without many worthwhile qualities. Everything about the movie is mediocre at best: the script, the acting, the directing, the music, and so on. The adult actors all hover at around run-of-the-mill level. The child actors go from not good to terrible. At times the acting is so cringe-worthily bad that even the most patient of us will think to turn it off. The script is really odd with a slowly-paced storytelling punctuated with unconvincing developments and silly training montages. This all comes to a predictable and ridiculously optimistic ending that not only misses the chance for a non-Hollywood story arc but takes the standard formula and makes it even more of a happy ending than usual in a Hollywood movie. I've seen truly awful movies and this isn't that bad but it's down there.

I happened to catch this movie on a Christian TV channel recently. Although there is no overt religious messaging, the movie has a positive, moral story line and is 'clean' (no sex, violence), making it suitable for kids and for adults who are tired of skin, guts, and gore. Some reviewers may consider the movie 'milquetoast', but I considered it a pleasant respite from the worldly messaging too often promoted in TV, music, and movies today. I intend to purchase this as a Christmas gift for my granddaughter who is a gymnast.

Poor acting and canned plot aside, this movie was the non toxic good fun it needed to be for an enjoyable movie night with my 8 year old. Recommended if you're looking for an easy watch with your kid and they love gymnastics. It's a simple predictable story about a girl with a lot of potential gaining the confidence to beat the odds. Maddy is a rising star gymnast but jealous teammates succeed at feeding her self doubts when they start believing she may be real competition. With the help of her upstart new coach, Maddie begins to set her sights on winning the upcoming national competition. It's not ruining anything to say she eventually gets there because it's what the movie is so clearly about. I could come up with a thousand reasons why I would never want to watch it again but seeing my daughter yelp with excitement and joy in all the right places made it all worth it.

A aussie movie that isn't Yahoo Serious' unfunny swill or Mad Max. A young girl has a second chance a pre-olympics tournament to qualify for the National Squad. However she is lacking in the pre-requisite physique. She works with her coaches to help her prepare mentally and physically for this trial.

As an amature who has never practiced gymnastics before the actress who plays Maddy picked up enough skills. The point is that it's a children's movie designed to convey a tail of resilience. Critics of this movie want her to be level 3 gymnastics for an actress who has never done the sport before.

If you are expecting a big blockbuster movie than this is not the movie for you. Instead what you will get is a nice little Australian movie. Don't expect much from it and you will be happily rewarded. Granted the story is a little run of the mill and predictable but then again most family movies are so why should this one be any different?

The acting is not of the highest standard but it is acceptable enough to watch and accept their performances as a passing grade. As to the gymnastics side of the equation I am not really an expert but while again it wasn't of the highest standard it did seem passable enough for me and didn't really affect the movie in any way.

I may be a touch biased as this is one of my daughters favourite films but I have watched it a few times with her now and each time I have found it as enjoyable as the last so I have no problem in recommending it to anyone who may be thinking about giving this film a try.

If I have to have any real gripe about the movie is the fact that it had to many side stories going on that never really got much time to develop them fully. They tried to give all the characters backstories but never really gave us a chance to understand much about those stories. It is only a minor gripe which again doesn't really take away much from the movie so take it however you feel.